Parley by Peanut Butter
by anorakofavalon
Summary: Two years after the Snap, Bruce has been locked away in a lab of his own volition, hoping not to hurt anyone while trying to figure out what his problem is with the Hulk. But when he gets a call from Steve about Natasha, he knows it's time to stop running. It's time to go home. One-shot. Endgame compliant.


**A/N: Another prompt from WeirdWarrior!**

**_This would take place during those five years, Steve is worried about Natasha cause she is getting more tired and stressed everyday and refuses to eat, eventually Steve turns to Bruce who tries to get her to eat something as simple as a peanut butter sandwich._**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and thus claim nothing.**

* * *

"I've come to bargain."

Bruce leaned against the door frame of her office. Two long years since the Snap. Not that he was aware of the time passing by. He had been in his lab, experimenting again. Alone.

Her hair was back to mostly red now, reaching down to her shoulders. Natasha wore a tank top and some jeans. She was leaning against the desk, drumming her fingers on the wood anxiously. It was a new habit she picked up.

The office was about what he expected from her, a few plants here and there, lots of book, but most of the space was dominated by giant holograms giving her more information than she could ever possibly need about… everything.

She was trying to control everything. Except for her facial expressions.

Bruce wasn't sure whether to be proud that she let her guard down around him, despite how much time has passed, or if he should be concerned. She was not pleased. She watched him with narrow eyes, and her voice was deceptively calm.

"Oh, have you? Not surprised. Seems you only come to the Compound when you need something."

Ouch.

"I'm sorry." Bruce replied, moving near the desk, but not daring to sit down.

She waved her hand and the holograms disappeared.

"Always are." She looked off into the distance. "What do you want?"

He nodded to himself. He deserved that.

He glanced over to a pair of pointe shoes by her desk. "You're dancing again."

Annoyance crossed her face, but she assented. "Yes."

Bruce was annoyed, himself. He couldn't come up with anything to say to her. And when he did, it was never the right thing. He tried once more, looking her in the eyes.

"I'm really sorry Natasha."

She let loose a shaky, tired breath. "Why are you here, Bruce? Why now?"

Unspoken was a bigger question: why not before now?

He cringed at his own shortcoming in that regard. He had very little in the way of a proper excuse for why he didn't come before, but he did have a reason for coming now.

"Steve called me. Said you weren't doing too well. I thought maybe you were sick-"

"I don't get sick." Natasha cut in. Her arms were crossed.

"Right..." Bruce trailed off. He rubbed the back of his head. "He's worried about you. He says you haven't been eating much or doing anything except..."

"I have a lot of work to do Bruce. I'm operating on less than half a team. Doesn't help that everyone..."

"Doesn't help that I left?"

"No. It doesn't. It hurts." Her eyes were getting watery, but no tears escaped and she arched an imperious eyebrow anyway. "You know what?" She paused, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't even know why I'm so worked up about this, I had two years of practice before. What's two more years without Bruce, right?"

Bruce bit his lip, a lump in his throat. "That's not fair. I wasn't in control after Sokovia-"

She stood up. Tears were falling now. "No. You know what's not _fair_, Bruce? Half the fucking universe is gone, my _best friend_ is God knows _where _doing God knows _what_, Tony is off playing house, Thor's drinking himself into another plane of existence, Steve is convincing everybody else that everything's gonna be okay when all of us know it won't, and you're..."

She laughed humorlessly. "I don't even know what you're doing. It feels like I'm the _only _one here who's trying to be a fucking Avenger, Bruce."

She refused to meet his eyes, choosing to stare at his shoulders instead. That stung more than her words. Natasha had always looked him the eyes when talking to him. She made it a point, even in the shack in Calcutta all those years ago. But now…

Bruce took a seat across from her. "I..."

She looked at him sharply. "I swear to God if you say sorry one more time, Banner..."

He blew out a breath and gave a small shrug. He was sure his eyes were watery too, but he wasn't sure. All he had to go on was that Natasha's glare had softened a little and she uncrossed her arms and sat across from him.

"I didn't want to hurt you again."

"And yet here we are..." she said softly.

Bruce wanted to crawl into a lab. But that's what got him here in the first place.

He waved his hands in the air helplessly. "I don't know how to fix this, Natasha". The Universe, the Avengers, the Hulk, Natasha's heart. For all his brains, Bruce couldn't figure it out. "Can it even be fixed?"

She watched him for a moment, then shrugged.

It was silent.

A heartbeat. Two. Three.

He watched as it started drizzling rain outside from the glass wall.

It was so stupid, desperate even, but Bruce Banner was both of those things and so much more. He tried for a smile.

"How did a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?"

Natasha stared at him incredulously. Lips parted slightly and eyebrows raised. Bruce was going to backtrack within a second before she started giggling. It was such a contrast to what her puffy red eyes communicated that Bruce was the incredulous one. But as her giggles started to change into laughter, he started to chuckle too.

"Fella done me wrong" she said. Natasha held his gaze now.

Bruce gave a lopsided smile that was between amused and sad. "You got lousy taste in men, kid."

Natasha reached out and gave a more characteristic smirk. "Damn right."

It was such a strange sensation to have her hand on his. How long had he gone without touching another person? It's been a while. A long while, actually. He teared up a little. Was this who he was? A recluse forevermore?

Natasha's gaze became more concerned. "Bruce, I'm sorry about what I said earlier I-"

Bruce shook his head. "It's not you Natasha, you were right about those things… it's just..."

He flipped their hands around softly, running his thumb up and down the inside of her wrist, resting on her pulse. "I distanced myself from people for years because of the Hulk. And now that he won't even come out… I still distanced myself. Is he really the issue or is it just...me?"

She offered nothing to that except to squeeze his hand. She let a moment pass before speaking up. Her voice was stronger than it was before.

"You know..." she teased, "I thought it was you who was supposed to be comforting me."

He smiled. "Speaking of things I should be doing..."

Bruce got up, but shifted his hand so that their fingers were interlaced. He didn't once let go. "Come on" he said.

Natasha followed. She had an idea he was going to try to cook her some giant meal to make up for lots of missed dinner dates or something, but when they reached the kitchen, he didn't go for the fridge. Not that they had the right ingredients for whatever he had in mind, anyways. He released her hand and she moved to sit by the counter on a bar stool.

He went to the pantry and she watched, head tilted, at what he was doing.

Bruce made a big show of moving his hands quickly and doing complicated gestures, and specifically of putting his body in front of whatever he was making so she wouldn't see. He grabbed so many different ingredients that she wasn't sure what to make of it.

Finally he turned around with a mischievous smile, looking more youthful than he had since Sokovia, and in his hand was a plate with a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

He presented it to her with a flourish and she chuckled. It was an exaggerated affair, and she couldn't help but tease him about it.

"I was expecting something grander for my first proper meal in a couple of days."

Bruce sat next to her, his knees brushing against hers. It made her lips quirk into a little smile. "I'm sure your appetite isn't particularly extensive right now. You have to work your way back into better meals. This will do for now."

"Doctor approved?"

"I'm probably not the right sort of doctor for that, but I approve."

She was earnest. "You're the only doctor I needed to see Bruce."

A sigh. "I'm sorry I didn't come-"

"But" she continued, "I'm not eating that sandwich."

Bruce looked a little indignant and Natasha found that incredibly amusing. "You know for a fact I'm a pretty good cook."

"Oh I know." She got moved away from her seat, moving in close to Bruce and poking a finger to his chest. "But you said you came to bargain."

Bruce groaned. "Natasha..."

She smiled up at him. "Bargain up Banner."

"If you eat the sandwich, I will come live at the compound."

She grinned. "Close. A little closer."

"I will... let you know before I go do science by myself?" he ventured.

"That's more like it."

Bruce sighed in relief.

"One last thing" Natasha said.

She hooked her arms around his neck and brought his lips down to meet her. It was a soft kiss, but it conveyed what it needed to.

Bruce kept her in an embrace, hands around her waist. "You know, I'm really glad you did that before eating the sandwich. Otherwise you would have tasted like peanut butter and-"

Natasha scoffed. "Oh shut up." She kissed him again. It was a little more of an involved kiss, so neither noticed when they weren't the only occupants in the kitchen.

"Oh that's just nasty" said Rocket.

Bruce and Natasha laughed and invited him over to eat a sandwich.

Things were going to be okay.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Tried to balance a little bit of drama with the fluff and I think I did alright, all things considered :) Feel free to review**


End file.
